Vietnam university student creates super cheap prosthetic arm

Ngo Van Det of Pham Van Dong University in the central province devised the arm using microprocessor boards, motors and pressure sensors for a contest held by his university in which he won the second prize. Ngo Van Det with his prosthetic arm. Photo by VnExpress/ Thach Thao Made of 3D resin, it only costs VND3 million ($128) while similar products around the world usually cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Det said Vietnam has hundreds of thousands of disabled veterans and accident victims without arms who have great difficulty carrying out their daily activities. The majority are also poor, meaning they cannot afford to buy prosthetics, and this motivated him to research into bionics with the hope of making inexpensive products of the same quality, he said. To make an arm and hand for a person, he uses a 3D scan of their other arm and hand to get the design just right since each person’s anatomy is unique, he explained to VnExpress. The thumb is designed separately to enable rotary movement. Each finger has two knuckle joints – humans have three – except the thumb, which has only one. The palm of the hand has five joints to connect with the fingers. The robotic hand has microchip and servo motor inside. Photo by VnExpress/ Thach Thao The most elaborate part of the frame is at the triceps, and it requires great accuracy since it is where the prosthetic arm is attached to the wearer. After a plastic 3D printout… [Read full story]